Two-thirds of U.S. high school students today are unable to read and comprehend complex academic materials, think critically about texts, synthesize information from multiple sources, or effectively communicate what they have learned. And in response, many teachers simply stop assigning challenging texts, opting instead to "deliver…

Published in partnership with WestEd, this significantly updated second edition of the bestselling book contains strategies for helping students in middle school through community college gain the reading independence to master subject area textbooks and other material. Features of this book include: (1) Based on the Reading Apprenticeship…

Middle and high school teachers across academic disciplines face increased pressure to address the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for English language arts and for literacy in history/social studies, science, and technical subjects. This means that the responsibility of preparing students to read, write, talk, and think critically about…

For the past five years, colleagues in the Strategic Literacy Initiative at WestEd have been designing and implementing a professional development program focused on enabling teachers to build their understanding of the complexities of reading. In developing this program, centered around what they call a "Reading Apprenticeship"…

Many middle school and high school students have difficulty reading and understanding academic texts, which limits their ability to meet today's high learning standards. This guidebook addresses this quiet but growing crisis. Aimed at content area teachers in secondary schools, the guidebook describes a successful approach to helping students…

In Reading Apprenticeships, teachers serve as "master readers" of texts, engaging in collaborative inquiry with students. Reading is demystified through metacognitive conversations that draw on readers' self-knowledge. Academically underperforming students gained an average of 2 years' reading growth in 1 academic year using the…

The causes of reading failure are numerous and complex. If instruction provided by the school is ineffective or insufficient, even some otherwise capable learners will have difficulty learning to read. Improving literacy instruction through professional development is an ongoing process involving all of the members of a schoolwide literacy team in…